Our online courses features live, interactive instruction through ZOOM video conferencing services. This isn’t just voice-over-PowerPoint where you’re learning by yourself, isolated from your instructor and your peers. Participants can interact with both trainers and their fellow thermographers in real-time, just as you can in a typical face-to-face training class.

Class lectures will start at 10:00 AM Eastern Time and run until 6:00 PM each day. We recommend saving the Zoom calendar invitations to your email so that the course times reflect your local timezone. Instructors will open the Zoom session at 9:30 AM daily, giving students time to test their connections, webcams, and microphones, and to address any questions.

We strongly recommend having an IR camera for training. Throughout the course, you will be asked to participate in camera operation labs designed to complement course lectures. Requirements for certification can be completed without an IR imager, however it is advantageous to your learning experience to follow along and participate. Please note for sUAS courses our instructor will provide images for analysis and you are not required to use your aircraft during labs. 

The type of camera you need will depend on your application. Generally, we recommend a camera capable of radiometric imagery that allows adjustments for custom object parameters (e.g., emissivity, T-refl). Spot pyrometers and test & measurement meters are not recommended as primary devices for the class. For specialized applications like Optical Gas Imaging, a FLIR GF-Series or an equivalent camera is required.

Zoom provides a mock-meeting function to test your connection, webcam, and microphone before your training. Please use the link below to review your settings:

https://zoom.us/test

During the training, our instructors will conduct various lab exercises. Students can replicate these labs at home using everyday household items. We recommend having the following available:

• Two cups (paper/glass/ceramic/metal)
• Hot / warm water
• Ice
• A small towel or paper towel
• Small notebook
• One roll of electrical tape (black preferred)
• Thin plastic (plastic bag, plastic wrap, trashbag, or similar)
• Aluminum foil

For our courses, we’ll be using the FLIR Thermal Studio or FLIR Ignite radiometric reporting software. This software is not a requirement or prerequisite for passing the course. This application is also not necessary for our Optical Gas Imaging courses. The purpose is to demonstrate analytical radiometric software that can assist in streamlining inspections, organizing data, and managing thermal images and videos. Please only download FLIR Thermal Studio Starter. We also recommend trying to connect your camera to your computer and the software prior to the start of the course.

If you are not utilizing a FLIR camera, please consult with your camera manufacturer to download the compatible reporting application for your camera. 

https://www.flir.com/products/flir-thermal-studio-suite

https://ignite.flir.com/ 

NOTE: FLIR Thermal Studio will not work on a MAC, this is a PC-based software only. For Mac users we reccomend FLIR Ignite, which is a cloud based application. 

Please contact FLIR Support if you have any questions or encounter installation issues:

http://support.flir.com

866-477-3687 Ext. 3 (US only)

In the event a student is not successful passing the certification exam on first attempt, we allow two additional exam sittings. Students who are required to retest are provided guidance by their instructor on which areas they should focus their study efforts to best prepare. In total, students have three attempts to pass the certification exam before they are required to reattend another certification course.